DEMOLITION of an historic cottage has been agreed despite concerns that the move could change the character of a Borders village.

An application for planning permission in principle was submitted Scottish Borders Council (SBC) to flatten a 200-year-old house known as Ardlui, located within the village of Hume.

The plan is to build a replacement home at the site.

The application had raised concerns with objections from Greenlaw and Hume Community Council on the grounds that Hume is a linear village, with all but one of the houses on the northern side of the public road.

A community council spokesperson said: “The proposal to build a house behind a house would change the character of the village. There is great concern that if this application is granted then this will open the way for future applications to build behind the village.”

But members of SBC’s Planning and Building Standards Committee unanimously approved the application when they met on Monday (July 8).

Councillor Donald Moffat supported the application in principle but urged the applicant to scale down the plans when a finalised bid is submitted to SBC.

He said: “The existing building is a modest stone building with a tin roof and I would hazard a guess that replacing it would be a good idea. I don’t have a problem with that. I think that the development that is proposed is out of character and doesn’t have a sense of place.”

A report to the committee said: “Concerns have been raised in the letters of representations received regarding the loss of the existing dwelling house which is understood to be at least 200 years old.

“It is acknowledged that the existing dwelling house is in a poor state of repair and it would require significant intervention to upgrade it to modern standards.

“It is expected that much of the existing fabric would be lost if the existing dwelling house was to be renovated.

“Whilst the proposed development would be at odds with policy, the replacement dwelling house would be built using modern construction methods and materials which would result in the erection of an energy efficient dwelling house, consistent with the underlying policy aims.”